(Trends Wide) — For the first time in its four-decade history, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization has declared a national state of emergency for members of the LGBTQ+ community, the Campaign reported Tuesday. of Human Rights.
“LGBTQ+ Americans live in a state of emergency. The multiple threats facing millions of people in our community are not just perceived: they are real, tangible and dangerous,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the organization.
“In many cases they are giving rise to violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and unleashing a surge in homophobia and transphobia that endangers the safety of each and every one of us,” he added.
Along with the emergency declaration, the group will publish a digital guide, which will include health and safety resources, an overview of each state’s laws, “know your rights” information, and resources designed to support LGBTQ+ travelers and those living in hostile states.
The historic announcement — just days into Pride Month — follows “an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023,” according to the Human Rights Campaign, as violence against LGBTQ people and community rights continues. they have become a flash point in the 2024 elections.
Years after 49 people were murdered at Florida’s gay nightclub Pulse, Colorado’s Q Club became the scene of a massacre in a beloved LGBTQ “safe space” in November.
Supporters of LGBTQA+ rights march on March 31 from Union Station to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Credit Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images/File)
Anti-LGBTQ legislation
The Human Rights Campaign released an updated travel advisory for Florida last month, highlighting the potential impacts of six recently passed bills there, many already signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential hopeful who has advocated “not say gay” and pronoun bills.
According to data from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in the first quarter of 2023, at least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced, a new record and double the number presented throughout the past year.
The number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills enacted so far this year is also more than double that of last year, which had been the highest on record, according to the Human Rights Campaign. These include pronoun denial laws, laws that require students to say their sexual orientation, bans against dragging, and “don’t say LGBTQ+” laws.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is about to rule on a case about whether a business can deny services to LGBTQ customers.
But even as the Human Rights Campaign issues warnings, the group insists it will not back down from any attempt to hinder the community: “LGBTQ+ people across the country will not be erased, now or ever,” the group claimed.
— Trends Wide’s Annette Choi contributed to this report.
